Damen unveils Multi Cat Water Injection Dredger

Damen has recently unveiled a Water Injection Dredger (WID), courtesy of a plug & play system aboard a Damen Multi Cat. Such capabilities are typically found only on dedicated platforms, though Damen realised that the Multi Cat’s forward propulsion and manouevrability made it a suitable platform for this type of dredging. The Multi Cat is typically used to assist CSDs on dredging projects, carrying out tasks such as anchor shifting and cutter teeth replacement.

Damen realised that, with the addition of dredging components, the Multi Cat might actually be able to take on dredging functionality in a manner that proves the rule ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’.

The Multi Cat WID Dredger works by injecting silt with high volume, but low pressure water. The accumulated soil becomes a density flow and by utilizing the current and/or gradient the silt will be removed from ports and waterways including rivers and channels, offering a cost effective, sustainable approach to dredging.

This very straightforward approach applies containers – 2 x 40ft for a 500mm system and 3 x 40ft for a 600mm system – on board a Multi Cat in a plug & play system that can be applied to an existing vessel for added versatility.